15 LGBTQ+ Books That Will Hook You From the Very First Page

In Stag Dance, A group of lumberjacks working in an illegal winter logging outfit plan a dance that some of them will attend as women. When the strongest says he will dance as a woman, he’s caught in a strange rivalry with a young jack. Three stories surround Stag Dance: “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones” imagines a gender apocalypse brought about by an ex-girlfriend. In “The Chaser,” a secret romance between roommates at a boarding school brings out intrigue and cruelty. In “The Masker,” a weekend in Las Vegas turns dark when a young crossdresser must choose between two guides.

Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space. She begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates who become friends. As they all prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion she never imagined. Leading her to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the universe.

Meet Linus Baker: a by-the-book case worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He’s tasked with determining whether six dangerous magical children are likely to bring about the end of the world. Arthur Parnassus is the master of the orphanage who would do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means the world will burn. An enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family―and realizing that family is yours.

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak.

Seventeen-year-old Bret is a senior at the exclusive Buckley prep school when a new student arrives with a mysterious past. Robert Mallory is bright, handsome, and shielding a secret from Bret and his friends. Bret’s obsession with Mallory is equaled only by his increasing preoccupation with the Trawler, a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing closer to Bret and his friends. Thwarted by the world, Bret spirals into paranoia and isolation as the relationship between the Trawler and Robert Mallory hurtles toward collision.

Emily appears to have a perfect life: a townhouse in Manhattan, two healthy children, and a husband who adores her. But the truth is more complicated: Emily’s marriage is in trouble, her relationship with her parents is fraught, and she is still nursing a heartbreak from long ago. When Emily runs into her high school girlfriend at a party, that heartbreak comes roaring back. But Gen Hall is no longer the kid Emily once loved. Instead, Gen is an Olympic athlete with high-profile ex-girlfriends. The two circle one another cautiously, drawn together by a magnetic attraction and scarred by their history.

On his first day at Valentine Academy for Boys, Charlie’s carefully crafted plan to hide his identity as the school’s only trans student is set in motion. Only to be immediately destroyed. Charlie has been assigned the worst roommate in the world: Jasper Grimes, the boy who broke Charlie’s heart the year before he transitioned. Except, Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie. Who knows how long until Jasper realizes the truth? Charlie has one shot at freedom and a dorm room all to himself, but only if he helps Jasper write love letters on behalf of their fellow students first.

It’s been months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don’t dare wander outside the school’s fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised. But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors beyond the fence.

For twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a pancake diner and living with weird roommates could change that. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train: Jane. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but soon, she discovers one problem: Jane’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her.

Brought up by ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She prepares to launch her escape, but her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House, has been summoned by the Emperor for a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal. But no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead.

Kai wants to come out at school, but his best friend, Matt, stays closeted for fear of getting kicked out by his parents—and wants Kai to do the same. Kai unhappily agrees, but when a rumor goes around that Kai and Matt are dating, Matt starts acting differently anyway. Kai’s other best friend, Vass, is proudly nonbinary and thinks Matt is a negative influence—though maybe that’s just their crush on Kai talking. Kai has always turned to writing to express his emotions, but when his on-page emotions erupt into the real world, he might be putting the delicate balance of his life at risk.

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a gallery that suggests she may not have been what she seemed.

Avery Jensen is fresh off a breakup, and tired of being well-behaved. She wants all the fun stuff normal people do in their twenties, but doesn’t know where to start. She doesn’t have a lot of dating experience, and doesn’t have a lot of confidence when it comes to romance. Enter Taylor Cameron, Napa Valley’s biggest heartbreaker. Taylor just broke up with her girlfriend, and her best friend bet her that she can’t make it until Labor Day without sleeping with someone. So, she offers to give Avery flirting lessons to keep herself busy. The only issue is: now Avery wants Taylor.

Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, Leah has carried part of it onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.

Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits. So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect. Quickly realizing that parenting isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to new responsibilities.